Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) firm Celesta Capital has grown its ranks, hiring former BDC Capital partner Charles Lespérance.
“Deep tech in Canada is very much still at the cooperative stage; there are many more good opportunities than available funding today.”
Charles Lespérance,
Celesta Capital
Lespérance joined the deep tech-focused VC firm earlier this month as its first partner based in Canada, where he will work out of Montréal to help Celesta source deals, make investments, and raise money.
Before Celesta, Lespérance helped manage BDC Capital’s $200-million CAD Deep Tech Venture Fund alongside Thomas Park—who also recently departed the Government of Canada-backed Crown corporation and has since joined Singapore deep tech VC firm Antares Ventures as a senior advisor.
“I love early-stage deep tech investing,” Lespérance told BetaKit over email. “I first met many of the folks at Celesta when we co-led a round in a Montréal-based silicon timing company called Stathera. I remember being blown away by the network and experience that their team brought to the table.”
Founded in 2013, Celesta is a global VC firm that targets companies in the Series A to Series C range developing deep tech solutions that leverage semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), sensors, and advanced materials. Celesta, which is currently investing out of its fourth fund, has amassed a portfolio of 106 companies and $1.1 billion USD in assets under management. The VC firm has exited 39 investments to date, including Habana Labs, Nuvia, and Robinhood.
While India and Israel have been Celesta’s two leading overseas markets outside of the United States (US), the VC firm has also made investments in the Asia-Pacific region and backed two startups with operations in Canada: Stathera and Canadian-founded, San Jose-based AI platform for manufacturing Quartic.ai.
With Lespérance’s help, Celesta hopes to expand its presence in Canada. Lespérance said he offers an established deal sourcing and co-investment network, expertise in complementary areas like quantum, mining, and oil and gas, and “extensive financial restructuring experience.”
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“His extensive knowledge and relationships throughout the deep tech and Canadian VC ecosystems are a perfect fit for our team and reflect the commitment we are making to invest in Canada moving forward,” Celesta founding managing partner Nicholas Brathwaite told BetaKit over email.
Brathwaite cited the strength of Canada’s “research muscle and technical workforce” as two contributing factors to Celesta’s interest in the country. “There is a significant opportunity to identify compelling technologies and build great businesses within Canada,” he argued.
“Deep tech in Canada is very much still at the cooperative stage; there are many more good opportunities than available funding today and having more knowledgeable and active participants in the sector will benefit everyone involved,” Lespérance said.
Lespérance’s hire comes just over a year after Celesta partnered with Hamilton, Ontario’s McMaster University to help startups and researchers affiliated with the school commercialize their intellectual property.
“Celesta has deep ties to many of the world’s largest tech companies, which can help us give our investee companies access to a network it would take them years to otherwise develop, without having to relocate to the US,” Lespérance said.
Feature image courtesy Celesta Capital.